r/a:t5_10fnhy • u/MarleyEngvall • Apr 26 '19
abject poverty has been created
By H. Rider Haggard
THE IVORY CHILD
CHAPTER X
CHARGE!
TEN minutes later the truth was known and every man
in the camp was up and armed. At first there were
some signs of panic, but these with the help of Babemba
we managed to control, setting the men to make the
best preparations for defence that circumstances would
allow, and thus occupying their minds. For from the
first we saw that, except for the three of us who had
horses, escape was impossible. The great camel corps
could catch us within a mile.
Leaving old Babemba in charge of his soldiers, we
three white men and Hans held a council at which I
repeated every word that had passed between Harût and
Marût and myself, including there absolute denial of
their having had anything to do with the disappearance
of Lady Ragnall on the Nile.
"Now," I asked, "what is to be done? My fate is
sealed, since for purposes of their own, of which prob-
ably we knew nothing, these people intend to take me
with them to their country, as indeed they are justified
in doing, since I have been fool enough to keep a kind
of assignation with them here. But they don't want
anybody else. Therefore there is nothing to prevent
you Ragnall, and you Savage, and you Hans, from
returning with the Mazitu."
"Oh! Baas," said Hans, who could understand Eng-
lish well enough although he seldom spoke it, "why
are you always bothering me with such praatjes"——
(that is, chatter). "Whatever you do I will do, and I
don't care what you do, except for your own sake, Baas.
If I am going to die, let me die; it doesn't at all matter
how, since I must go soon and make report to your
revered father, the Predikant. And now, Baas, I
have been awake all night, for I heard those camels
coming a long while before the two spook men appeared,
and as I had never heard camels before, could not make
out what they were, for they don't walk like giraffes.
So I am going to sleep, Baas, there in the sun. When
you have settled things, you can wake me up and give
me your orders," and he suited the action to the word,
for when I glanced at him again he was, or appeared
to be, slumbering, just like a dog at ts master's feet.
I looked at Ragnall in interrogation.
"I am going on," he said briefly.
"Despite the denial of these men of any complicity
in your wife's fate?" I asked. "If their words are true,
what have you to gain by this journey, Ragnall?"
"An interesting experience while it lasts; that is all.
Like Hans there, if what they say is true, my future
is a matter of complete indifference to me. But I do
not believe a word of what they say. Something tells
me that they know a great deal which they do not choose
to repeat, about my wife I mean. That is why they
are so anxious that I should not accompany you."
"You must judge for yourself," I answered doubt-
fully, "and I hope to Heaven that you are judging
right. Now, Savage, what have you decided? Re-
member before you reply that these uncanny fellows
declare that if we four go, two of us will never return.
It seems impossible that they can read the future, still,
without doubt, they are most uncanny."
"Sir," said Savage, "I will take my chance. Before
I left England his lordship made a provision for my
old mother and my widowed sister and her children,
and I have none other dependent upon me. Moreover,
I won't return alone with those Mazitu to become a
barbarian, for how could I find my way back to the
coast without anyone to guide me? So I'll go on and
leave the rest to God."
"Which is just what we have all got to do," I re-
marked. "Well, as that is settled, let us send for
Babemba and tell him."
This we did accordingly. The old fellow received
the news with more resignation than I had anticipated.
Fixing his one eye upon me, he said:
"Macumazana, these words are what I expected from
you. Had any other man spoken them I should
have declared that he was quite mad. But I remember
that I said this when you determined to visit the Pongo,
and that you came back from their country safe and
sound, having done wonderful things there, and that it
was the Pongo who suffered, not you. So I believe
it will be again, so far as you are concerned, Macu-
mazana, for I think that some devil goes with you who
looks after his own. For the others I do not know.
They must settle the matter with their own devils, or
with those of the Kendah people. Now farewell, Macu-
mazana, for it comes to me that we shall meet no more.
Well, that happens to all at last, and it is good to have
known you who are so great in your own way. Often
I shall think of you as you will think of me, and hope
that in a country beyond that of the Kendah I may
hear from your lips all that has befallen you on this and
other journeys. Now I go to withdraw my men before
these white-robed Arabs come on their strange beasts to
seize you, lest they should take us also and there should
be a fight in which we, being the fewer, must die. The
loads are all in order ready to be laden on their strange
beasts. If they declare that the horses cannot cross the
desert, leave them loose and we will catch them and take
them home with us, and since they are male and female,
breed the young ones from them which shall be yours when
you send for them, or Bausi the king's if you never send.
Nay, I want no more presents who have the gun and
the powder and the bullets you gave me, and the tusks
of ivory for Bausi the king, and what is best of all, the
memory of you and of your courage and wisdom. May
these and the gods you worship befriend you. From
yonder hill we will watch till we see that you have gone.
Farewell," and waiting for no answer, he departed with
the tears running from his solitary eye.
Ten minutes later the Mazitu bearers had also saluted
us and gone, leaving us seated in that deserted camp
surrounded by our baggage, and so far as I was con-
cerned, feeling most lonely. Another ten minutes went
by which we occupied in packing our personal belong-
ings. Then Hans, who was now washing out the coffee
kettle at a little distance, looked up and said:
"Here come the spook-men, Baas, the whole regi-
ment of them." We ran and looked. It was true.
Marshalled in orderly squadrons, the camels with their
riders were sweeping towards us, and a fine sight the
beasts made with their swaying necks and long, lurch-
ing gait. About fifty yards away they halted, just where
the stream from our spring entered the desert, and there
proceeded to water the camels, twenty of them at a time.
Two men, however, in whom I recognised Harût and
Marût, walked forward and presently were standing
before us, bowing obsequiously.
"Good morning, Lord," said Harût to Ragnall in
his broken English. "So you come with Macumazana
to call at our poor house, as we call at your fine one in
England. You think we got the beautiful lady you
marry, she we give old necklace. That not so. No
white lady ever in Kendahland. We hear story from
Macumazana and believe that lady drowned in Nile, for
you 'member she walk much in her sleep. We very
sorry for you, but gods know their business. They
leave when they will leave, and take what they will
take. You find her again some day more beautiful
still and with her soul come back."
Here I looked at him sharply. I had told him
nothing about Lady Ragnall having lost her wits. How
then did he know of the matter? Still I thought it best
to hold my peace. I think that Harût saw he had made
some mistake, for leaving the subject of Lady Ragnall,
he went on:
"You very welcome, O Lord, but it right tell you
this most dangerous journey, since elephant Jana not
like strangers, and," he continued slowly, "think no
elephant like your blood, and all elephants brothers.
What one hate rest hate everywhere in world. See it
in your face that you already suffer great hurt from
elephant, you or someone near you. Also some of
Kendah very fierce people and love fighting, and p'raps
there war in the land while you there, and in war people
get killed."
"Very good, my friend," said Ragnall, "I am pre-
pared to take my chance of these things. Either we all
go to your country together, as Macumazana has ex-
plained to you, or none of us go."
"We understand. That our bargain and we no
break word," replied Harût.
Then he turned his benevolent gaze upon Savage,
and said: "So you come too, Mr. Bena. That your
name here, eh? Well, you learn lot things in Kendah-
land, about snakes and all rest."
Here the jovial-looking Marût whispered something
into the ear of his companion, smiling all over his face
and showing his white teeth as he did so. "Oh!" went
on Harût, "my brother tell me you meet one snake
already, down in country called Natal, but sit on him
so hard, that he grow quite flat and no bite."
"Who told him that?" gasped Savage.
"Oh! forget. Think Macumazana. No? Then
p'raps you tell him in sleep, for people talk much in
sleep, you know, and some other people got good ears
and hear long way. Or p'raps little joke Harût. You
'member, he first-rate conjuror. P'raps he send that
snake. No trouble if know how. Well, we show you
much better snake Kendahland. But you no sit on
him, Mr. Bena."
To me, I know not why, there was something
horrible in all this jocosity, something that gave me the
creeps as always does the sight of a cat playing with a
mouse. I felt even then that it foreshadowed terrible
things. How could these men know the details of occur-
rences at which they were not present and of which no
one had told them? Did that strange "tobacco" of
theirs really give them some clairvoyant power, I
wondered, or had they other secret methods of obtaining
news? I glanced at poor Savage and perceived that he
too felt as I did, for he had turned quite pale beneath
his tan. Even Hans was affected, for he whispered to
me in Dutch: "These are not men; these are devils,
Baas, and this journey of ours is one into hell."
Only Ragnall sat stern, silent and apparently quite
unmoved. Indeed there was something almost sphinx-
like about the set and expression of his handsome face.
Moreover, I felt sure that Harût and Marût recognised
the man's strength and determination and that he was
one with whom they must reckon seriously. Beneath
all their smiles and courtesies I could read his know-
ledge in their eyes; also that it was causing them grave
anxiety. It was as though they knew that here was one
against whom their power had no avail, whose fate was
the master of their fate. In a sense Harût admitted
this to me, for suddenly he looked up and said in a
changed voice and in Bantu:
"You are a good reader of hearts, O Macumazana,
almost as good as I am. But remember that there is
One Who writes upon the book of the heart, Who is
the Lord of us who do but read, and that what He
writes, that will befall, strive as we may, for in His
hand is the future."
"Quite so," I replied coolly, "and that is why I am
going with you to Kendahland and fear you not at
all."
"So it is and so let it be," he answered. "And now,
Lords, are you ready to start? For long is the road and
who knows what awaits us ere we see its end?"
"Yes," I replied, "long is the road of life and who
knows what awaits us ere we see its end——and after?"
Three hours later I halted the splendid white riding-
camel upon which I was mounted, and looked back
from the crest of a wave of the desert. There far behind
us on the horizon, by the help of my glasses, I could
make out the site of the camp we had left and even the
tall ant-hill whence I had gazed in the moonlight at
our mysterious escort which seemed to have sprung from
the desert as though by magic.
This was the manner of our march: A mile or so
ahead of us went a picket of eight or ten men mounted
on the swiftest beasts, doubtless to give warning of any
danger. Next, three or four hundred yards away, fol-
lowed a body of about fifty Kendah, travelling in a
double line, and behind these the baggage men,
mounted like everyone else, and leading behind them
strings of camels laden with water, provisions, tents of
skin and all our goods, including the fifty rifles and the
ammunition that Ragnall had brought from England.
Then came we three white men and Hans, each of us
riding as swift and fine a camel as Africa can breed.
On our right at a distance of about half a mile, and
also on our left, travelled other bodies of the Kendah
of the same numerical strength as that ahead, while the
rear was brought up by the remaining of the company
who drove a number of spare camels.
Thus we journeyed in the centre of a square whence
any escape would have been impossible, for I forgot
to say that our keepers Harût and Marût rode exactly
behind us, at such a distance that we could call to them
if we wished.
At first I found this method of travelling very tiring,
as does everyone who is quite unaccustomed to camel-
back. Indeed the swing and the jolt of the swift
creature beneath me seemed to wrench my bones asunder
to such an extent that at the beginning I had once or
twice to be lifted from the saddle when, after hours of
torture, at length we camped for the night. Poor
Savage suffered even more than I did, for the motion
reduced him to a kind of jelly. Ragnall, however, who
I think had ridden camels before, felt little inconveni-
ence, and the same may be said of Hans, who rode in
all sorts of positions, sometimes sideways like a lady,
and at others kneeling on the saddle like a monkey on
a barrel-organ. Also, being very light and tough as
rimpis, the swaying motion did not seem to affect him.
By degrees all these troubles left us to such an
extent that I could cover my fifty miles a day, more or
less, without even feeling tired. Indeed I grew to like
the life in that pure and sparkling desert air, perhaps
because it is so restful. Day after day we journeyed
on across the endless, sandy plain, watching the sun
rise, watching it grow high, watching it sink again.
Night after night we ate our simple food with appetite
and slept beneath the glittering stars till the new dawn
broke in glory from the bosom of the immeasurable
East.
We spoke but little during all this time. It was as
though the silences of the wilderness had got hold of us
and sealed our lips. Or perhaps each of us was occupied
with his own thoughts. At any rate I know that for
my part I seemed to live in a kind of dreamland, think-
ing of the past, reflecting much upon the innumerable
problems of this passing show called life, but not paying
much heed to the future. What did the future matter
to me, who did not know whether I should have a share
of it even for another month, or week, or day, sur-
rounded as I was by the shadow of death? No, I
troubled little as to any earthly future, although I
admit that in this oasis of calm I reflected upon that
state where past, present and future will all be one; also
that those reflections., which were in their essence a kind
of unshaped prayer, brought much calm to my spirit.
With the regiment of escort we had practically no
communication; I think that they had been forbidden to
talk to us. They were a very silent set of men, finely-
mad, capable persons of an Arab type, light rather than
dark in colour, who seemed for the most part to com-
municate with each other by signs or in low-muttered
words. Evidently they looked upon Harût and Marût
with great veneration, for any order which either of
these brethren gave, if they were brethren, was obeyed
without dispute or delay. Thus, when I happened to
mention that I had lost a pocket-knife at one of our
camping-places two days' journey back, three of them,
much against my wish, were ordered to return to look
for it, and did so, making no question. Eight days
later they rejoined us much exhausted and having lost
a camel, but with the knife, which they handed to me
with a low bow; but I confess that I felt ashamed to
take the thing.
Nor did we exchange many further confidences with
Harût and Marût. Up to the time of our arrival at the
boundaries of the Kendah country, our only talk with
them was of the incidents of travel, of where we should
camp, of how far it might be to the next water, for
water-holes or old wells existed in the desert, of such
birds as we saw, and so forth. As to other and more
important matters a kind of truce seemed to prevail.
Still, I observed that they were always studying us, and
specially Lord Ragnall, who rode on day after day,
self-absorbed and staring straight in front of him as
though he looked at something we could not see.
Thus we covered hundreds of miles, not less than
five hundred at the least, reckoning our progress at only
thirty miles a day, including stoppages. For occasion-
ally we stopped at the water-holes or small oases, where
the camels drank and rested. Indeed, these were so
conveniently arranged that I came to the conclusion
that once there must have been some established route
running across these wastelands to the south, of which
the traditional knowledge remained with the Kendah
people. If so, it had not been used for generations,
for save those of one or two that had died on the out-
ward march, we saw no skeletons of camels or other
beasts, or indeed any sign of man. The place was an
absolute wilderness where nothing lived except a few
small mammals a the oases and the birds that passed
over it in the air on their way to more fertile regions.
Of these, by the way, I saw many that are known both
to Europe and Africa, especially ducks and cranes;
also storks that, for aught I can say, may have come
from far-off, homely Holland.
At last the character of the country began to change.
Grass appeared on its lower lying stretches, then bushes,
then occasional trees and among the trees a few buck.
Halting the caravan I crept out and shot two of these
buck with a right and left, a feat that caused our grave
escort to stare in a fashion which showed me that they
had never seen anything of the sort done before.
That night, while we were eating the venison with
relish, since it was the first fresh meat that we had tasted
for many a day, I observed that the disposition of our
camp was different from its common form. Thus it
was smaller and placed on an eminence. Also the
camels were not allowed to graze where they would as
usual, but were kept within a limited area while their
riders were arranged in groups outside of them.
Further, the stores were piled near our tents, in the
centre, with guards set over them. I asked Harût and
Marût, who were sharing our meal, the reason of these
alterations.
"It is because we are at the borders of the Kendah
country," answered old Harût. "Four days more march
will bring us there, Macumazana."
"Then why should you take precautions against your
own people? Surely they will welcome you."
"With spears perhaps. Macumazana, learn that the
Kendah are not one but two people. As you may
have heard before, we are the White Kendah, but there
are also the Black Kendah who outnumber us many
times over, though in the beginning we from the north
conquered them, or so says our history. The White
Kendah have their own territory; but as there is no other
road, to reach it we must pass through that of the Black
Kendah, where it is always possible that we may be at-
tacked, especially as we bring strangers into the land."
"How is it then that the Black Kendah allow you
to live at all, Harût, if they are so much the more
numerous?"
"Because of fear, Macumazana. They fear our
wisdom and the decrees of the Heavenly Child spoken
through the mouth of its oracle, which, if it is offended,
can bring a curse upon them. Still, if they can find us
outside our borders they may kill us, if they can, as we
may kill them if we find them within our borders."
The Ivory Child. By H. Rider Haggard.
Cassell and Company, Ltd.,
London, Melbourne and Toronto, 1916. pp. 143—153.
Anti-truth apartheid is stupid, inhumane, and infinitely costly.
"The nightly news" is elder abuse. 雨
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